In a photo-stimulable phosphor imaging system, as described in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,847 reissued Mar. 12, 1985 to Luckey, a photo-stimulable phosphor sheet is exposed to an imagewise pattern of short wavelength radiation, such as x-radiation, to record a latent image pattern in the photo-stimulable phosphor sheet. The latent image is read out by stimulating the phosphor with a relatively long wavelength stimulating radiation such as red or infrared light. Upon stimulation, the photo-stimulable phosphor releases emitted radiation of an intermediate wavelength such as blue or violet light in proportion to the quantity of short wavelength radiation that was received. To produce a signal useful in electronic image processing, the photo-stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned in a raster pattern by a beam of light produced for example by a laser deflecting by an oscillating or rotating scanning mirror and the emitted radiation is sensed by a photodetector such as a photomultiplier tube to produce the electronic image signal.
In one type of scanning apparatus, the photo-stimulable phosphor sheet is placed on a translation stage and is translated in a page scan direction past a laser beam that is repeatedly deflected in a line scan direction to form the scanning raster.
To optimize the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the imaging system, it is desirable to collect as much of the emitted light as possible and to direct it to the photodetector. While the apparatus employed to collect the light may take various forms, one form of light collector is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,295, issued Aug. 24, 1982, to Tanaka et al. The light collector proposed by Tanaka et al comprises a sheet of light transmitting material that is flat on one end, and rolled into an annular shape on the opposite end. The flat end of the light collector is positioned adjacent the scan line on the photo-stimulable phosphor sheet. The light receiving face of a photomultiplier tube is placed against the annular end of the light collector.
Light emitted from the phosphor sheet enters the flat end of the light collector and is light piped to the photomultiplier tube. Improved light collection efficiencies are achieved by having two such light collectors, one on each side of the scan line, or by placing a long narrow reflector opposite the flat end of the light collector to increase the collection window of the light collector. The transparent light collector has the drawback that it is inherently complicated to manufacture. Furthermore, the collection efficiency of transparent light guides is limited due to their absorption in the wavelength range of light emitted by the photo-stimulable phosphor sheet (e.g. blue-violet).
Experiments have identified another factor that limits the signal-to-noise ratio achievable with the photo-stimulable phosphor imaging apparatus. As the photo-stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned by the stimulating radiation beam, a high percentage (up to 90%) of the stimulating radiation is reflected from the photo-stimulable phosphor. If this reflected stimulating radiation is further reflected back on to the surface of the photo-stimulable phosphor (it is then called "flare") in a location away from the instantaneous scanning point the phosphor will be stimulated to emit in these other locations. When this flare induced emission of light is collected by the light collector it is called prestimulation and results in a spurious background signal. Such reflection of the stimulating radiation onto the photo-stimulable phosphor may occur from the light collecting edge of the light guide described above. Examples of the image degradation caused by prestimulation include a reduction in the contrast of images due to flare induced emission from high exposure areas. This adds unwanted signal to low exposure areas. Shadow artifacts are produced in the image when a high exposure object on a low exposure background field is scanned. The signal-to-noise ratio in all image areas is degraded. Laser noise is enhanced since a large area of the phosphor is exposed to a low level of stimulating radiation, the light emitted from this area will follow the fluctuations in laser power, thereby amplifying the effect of the laser noise.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a light collector having improved collection efficiency and one that is easy to manufacture. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved light collector having reduced prestimulation. A desirable feature of such a light collector is that the collection efficiency versus scan position across a scan line be uniform. It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a light collector having a uniform collection efficiency across a scan line.